The Challenging Change

If you thought putting on 12 kilos for a couple of shots in ‘The Dirty Picture’ was the most challenging part for Vidya Balan, well think again. Coz facts state that this was in fact the easiest of the other challenges faced by Vidya in the movie. There are scenes where she was expected to look quite skinny whereas in other places she had to have a fuller and more attractive body structure. Then again there are scenes where she is given a jaded appearance to depict professional downturn of events.

These change in appearances required long hours of makeup and also the use of body and face prosthetics. Director Milan Luthria had always known that prosthetics were about using artificial to give a real life look but never could imagine that the outcomes can be so drastic and appealing. The changes it bought to the body contour were especially remarkable. Vidya’s role in the movie is that of South Indian actresses who are known for their voluptuous looks and despite her putting on the extra 12 kilos the makers of the film had to use prosthetics to amplify her voluptuous looks.

It was after the process was applied that the makers realized that it can not only bring about a change to the body structure but also to elements like eyes, facial lines, cheeks, jawline, etc. “It’s like a reconstruction of body parts, which is very striking. As of now, only Vidya’s sensuality is being noticed in the promos, but if you observe her closely, you will notice these minor ‘reconstructions’,” pointed out Luthria. The make-up supervisor Vikram Gaekwad gets all the credit for his patience and hard work on Vidya. “The difficult thing about using prosthetics is that it takes long to put on, and the material used starts melting in high temperatures, and if that happens the procedure has to be started all over again. Though Vikram had warned us about this, we were still unprepared for the meltdown that happened as we were shooting last month when it was very hot in Mumbai,” admitted Milan.

Initially while running the trial and error phase for Vidya’s character the idea appeared vague and somewhat impossible but the final look turned out quite awe striking. The difference in the character when she is an ordinary girl aiming to a star to when she finally becomes one and to the phase where she goes through professional lows is indeed striking and the prosthetics have helped a big deal in the process involved.

The movie which is set for release soon also features Bollywood stars Naseeruddin Shah, Emraan Hashmi and Tusshar Kapoor.